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Hiring the right commercial / industrial real estate agent to represent your interest is an extremely important step that many business owners as well as property owners quickly overlook. Here are 5 things to consider when choosing a real estate broker to represent your needs:
(1) Area of Expertise: Is your requirement specific to a certain product type i.e. industrial, retail, office? Perhaps certain uses like produce, trucking, food, or call-center to name a few? Is your requirement specific to a market/location? If yes, you need to select a broker that is an expert in these areas that define your space requirement.
(2) Years of Experience: Hopefully we learn from our mistakes. Often commercial/industrial real estate transactions are multi-million dollar deals that have a significant impact on your business. This is not an age issue but an issue based on experience. Have your agent tell you about some of his/her more challenging deals. What made those deals so challenging and what was done to overcome those challenges.
(3) Active Real Estate License: We are surprised how many times we get a call from a real estate agent who wants to bring us an offer and I go to confirm their license and find that it is inactive, suspended or expired. Be careful who you are working with and make sure they are licensed. Each state has their own regulatory department, for California go to http://www.dre.ca.gov and click in the Real Estate License Look-up icon.
(4) Designations: There are a number of real estate designations available to real estate agents that require continuing education and/or a certain volume of transactions. Some of these include Society of Industrial Office Realtors (SIOR), Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) and Certified Property Manager (CPM). Find an agent that cares enough to take the time to advance his/her knowledge in their respective field.
(5) Interview the Agent: Ask your agent to describe the process from beginning to end, from site selection to negotiating the terms of a lease/purchase agreement, obtaining a certificate of occupancy or overseeing any improvement work in securing a new location. If your agent cannot describe the process in detail it might be wise to find another agent.
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Source by Thomas A. Holland